Best Fit Furnishings

Old Macridi Locations

Exquisite Darkwood Craftsmanship Under an Extremely Expensive Deadline

The sweet scent of polished darkwood and fresh varnish fills a spacious workshop near Old Macridi's northern edge. Seasoned planks stand upright against the walls beside half-finished cabinets, carved bedframes, gold-inlaid writing desks, and dining tables broad enough to seat a merchant council.

For such a busy shop, it is remarkably quiet.

Assistants move between benches using quick hand signs and practiced gestures. At the center of the floor, a slender elf runs his fingertips slowly along the edge of an elaborate darkwood panel. He stops.

His expression hardens.

With one sharp tap of a wooden mallet, the beautiful panel splits along a black, oily seam hidden deep inside the grain.

Three armed mercenaries watching from the far wall immediately begin taking notes.

Best Fit Furnishings is one of Macridi's most prestigious workshops. Its proprietor, Pheyess (N male elf sorcerer 5), is a deaf master carpenter renowned for producing some of the finest darkwood furniture in the Inner Sea.

Demand has long exceeded Pheyess's ability to work alone. Several months ago he finally hired assistants, but the expansion came at the worst possible time. An imperfection appeared in a recent commission delivered to a wealthy Prophet in Kerse, who demanded an expensive replacement order.

The Prophet has now dispatched a small company of mercenaries to Macridi—not to attack Pheyess, but to make absolutely certain that his replacement quota is met.

Pheyess communicates through sign, slate boards, and a handful of assistants accustomed to interpreting for customers. He is exacting but not unfriendly. What concerns him most is not the Prophet, the money, or even the mercenaries. It is that he no longer trusts the wood.

The defective delivery to Kerse remains exactly as established. What Pheyess has only recently discovered is that the flaw was probably not poor craftsmanship at all.

Several shipments from Karland's Sawmill contain tiny pockets of oily black corruption hidden beneath otherwise flawless grain. Pheyess believes one such pocket caused the original commissioned piece to warp after delivery.

He has not yet proved this, and he refuses to blame Karland without evidence. Until he does, the failure remains his responsibility.

Workshop Offerings

Custom Furniture Commission — Prices vary dramatically by material and ornamentation
Fine Woodworking Tools — 5 gp
Reinforced Traveling Chest — 3 gp
Timber Quality Inspection — 5 sp per sample
Wooden Gear Repair — 2 sp to 2 gp depending on damage
Special Commission — Pheyess accepts unusual shields, cases, instrument boxes, and other precision woodwork when his schedule permits

Workshop Challenges

Challenge 1: Inside the Grain

Pheyess shows the party several rejected darkwood boards. Their surfaces appear flawless, but each contains thin veins of oily black decay hidden beneath the grain. A character examining the timber decides what they are trying to learn; other characters can Aid or investigate a genuinely different question.

Check Crafting DC 18

The character studies the grain, drying pattern, tool marks, and internal fractures to determine whether the defect arose during harvesting, milling, seasoning, or construction.

Critical Success The character proves that the wood was structurally compromised before it ever reached Pheyess's workshop. The corruption follows living growth rings rather than saw cuts or drying fractures. Pheyess gains strong evidence that the failed Kerse commission was made from already-tainted timber.

Success The character determines that neither Pheyess nor his assistants caused the defect. The damaged section existed before the board was seasoned and worked.

Failure The damage could plausibly have resulted from poor seasoning, hidden rot, or an unnoticed defect in the original timber.

Critical Failure The character initially concludes that excessive drying caused the fracture, accidentally reinforcing the argument that Pheyess's workshop was responsible.

Check Nature DC 19

Rather than examining the craftsmanship, the character studies the blackened growth rings and remnants of sap to reconstruct what happened while the tree was alive.

Critical Success The corruption entered the tree through its living root system and spread upward through its vascular structure. The tree was still growing when it became infected. The pattern strongly suggests contaminated soil, groundwater, or something affecting the roots beneath the Palakar.

Success The character confirms that the tree was infected while alive. This is not ordinary rot that developed after harvesting.

Failure The blackened grain resembles several natural tree diseases closely enough that its origin remains uncertain.

Critical Failure The character mistakes the corruption for an aggressive but mundane root fungus and initially believes the problem could be solved by destroying infected lumber.

Characters who have already examined the damaged hides at the Salty Bark Tannery or the residue in the Sanctitude Saunas may notice similarities without another roll if the connection is obvious from what they have already learned.

Together, those clues point increasingly toward environmental contamination moving through water, soil, roots, and living creatures.

Challenge 2: The Kerse Replacement Order

The Prophet's representatives arrive while the party is present. Their leader, Captain Vela Renn, is a professional mercenary with very simple instructions: observe the workshop, document Pheyess's progress, and ensure the replacement order leaves Macridi on schedule.

Vela is not a thug. She does not particularly care who is to blame. Her employer purchased furniture of a particular quality, received something defective, and expects the matter corrected.

LN female human mercenary captain

Vela is polite, patient, and almost impossible to provoke accidentally. She views the dispute as contractual rather than personal.

Personality: Professional, skeptical, unsentimental.

What Persuades Her: Evidence, enforceable commitments, and solutions that still satisfy her employer.

What Does Not: Excuses, outrage, or demands that she simply trust Pheyess.

If the party intervenes, the player describes the approach. The following are the most likely options.

Check Diplomacy DC 18

The character argues that forcing Pheyess to use questionable timber risks producing another defective shipment and leaving everyone worse off.

Critical Success Vela accepts the logic and grants Pheyess a two-week extension while clean timber is secured. She also agrees that rejecting questionable stock will not count against his production quota.

Success Vela grants a one-week extension and records the delay as a supply-quality issue rather than negligence by Pheyess.

Failure Vela sympathizes but refuses to alter her instructions without stronger evidence that the timber supply itself is defective.

Critical Failure Vela concludes that outsiders are trying to manufacture excuses for missed production. She stops discussing extensions until the party produces concrete evidence.

Check Mercantile Lore or Society DC 17

The character frames the problem in terms of quality guarantees, replacement liability, and the cost of knowingly shipping another potentially defective product.

Critical Success The character demonstrates that accepting questionable timber would expose the Prophet to another failed commission and potentially invalidate portions of the replacement agreement. Vela authorizes a pause in production and sends a written recommendation to Kerse supporting renegotiation.

Success Vela agrees that the contract requires usable materials, not merely rapid production. Pheyess receives a one-week extension while the disputed lumber is inspected.

Failure The argument is reasonable but does not establish that the current timber is actually defective. Evidence from Challenge 1 could justify another attempt.

Critical Failure The character overstates a contractual provision. Vela notices immediately and becomes considerably less receptive to further unsupported legal arguments.

Check Deception DC 20

A character might falsely claim that replacement materials are already secured, that an official inspection is imminent, or that another arrangement has already been approved.

Critical Success Vela believes the story and grants several days for the supposed arrangement to materialize. This buys Pheyess time, but the lie will eventually require evidence or a real solution.

Success The party buys Pheyess three days before Vela checks the claim. It is temporary relief rather than a true resolution.

Failure Vela asks for documentation the character cannot provide and declines to alter the schedule.

Critical Failure Vela catches the lie immediately. She does not punish Pheyess for something an outsider said, but she refuses further undocumented claims from that character.

Strong evidence from Challenge 1 reduces the DC of Diplomacy or Mercantile Lore checks against Vela by 2. The party should benefit from investigating before negotiating.

Checks here are normally made by the character taking the action. Other characters can Aid when they meaningfully support the argument or pursue a different line of evidence.

Sidequest

Once Pheyess trusts the party, he produces an old inventory slate. Years ago, before the current problems began, he purchased several exceptional darkwood beams from a harvest near Reiver's Right. One oversized piece proved too valuable for ordinary work and was left seasoning in a sealed storage shed near the camp.

If the beam is still there and remains uncorrupted, Pheyess can use it to complete the centerpiece of the Kerse replacement order without risking another hidden defect.

Objective: Locate the old dry-storage shed at Reiver's Right and recover the seasoned heartwood beam bearing Pheyess's carved double-leaf artisan mark.
Complication: The beam is too large to simply carry away during an emergency. The party may need to secure the shed, arrange transport, or return with help after determining whether the timber is safe.
Inspection: Pheyess teaches the party where to cut a tiny test shaving without damaging the beam. A character who remembers his instructions can determine whether the heartwood is visibly corrupted without requiring a Crafting check.
Reward: Pheyess pays the party 30 gp once the heartwood is secured and gives them priority access to his workshop for future wooden equipment, repairs, or commissions.
Additional Reward: If the party also proves that corrupted timber caused the original Kerse failure, Pheyess provides a beautifully carved personal token to each character. While in Macridi, displaying the token grants a +1 circumstance bonus to one Diplomacy check with a local artisan or craftsperson who recognizes Pheyess's mark.

Pheyess should not feel like a craftsman begging adventurers to rescue his business. He is extraordinarily talented, extremely busy, and accustomed to being held responsible for everything that leaves his shop.

His problem is more uncomfortable than simple financial pressure: he cannot guarantee perfection if the raw material itself has become unreliable.

The mercenaries reinforce that pressure without becoming villains. From their perspective, a wealthy client paid for exceptional work and received a defective piece. Until the party produces evidence otherwise, that is the only fact that matters.

Best Fit Furnishings